Dear Diary

By Alex Bolten

Whenever you’re involved in a student organization, you’re probably doing things that are going to build up your resume. The same can be said of doing an internship. You’re most likely going to complete an internship that coincides with your area of study and in a field that you may be interested in. Doing both of these things is important, but how much of what you’re doing for each are you going to remember?

As an example, I am currently an intern for both Purdue Convocations and the CLA Career Development office. I am also taking 20 credit hours this semester, and am involved in 4 different student organizations on campus. That being said, it’s sometimes difficult for me to keep everything that I’m doing in line. Since I many different things going on at once, it can be hard to recall exactly what it is that I’ve been doing, especially when it comes to my internships.

This brings me to my point: documentation. Since there’s so much going on, I’ve started to keep a log/diary of my day-to-day activities for my internships and student organizations. This way, I can look back and have concrete evidence of what it is that I’ve done. This is nice, because I don’t have to waste time racking my brain trying to figure out what it was that I did the other day.

Now, you may think this is trivial, monotonous or unnecessary. While it does get a little boring at times, I can assure you that it is most certainly necessary. The credit for this idea goes to my academic advisor. She is the one who encouraged me to start doing this. Her reasoning was that, when you’re prepping for an interview and look back on all of the things you’ve got on your resume, you wouldn’t have to try and remember every little thing. It’s difficult and nearly impossible for you to commit everything you’ve learned/done to long-term memory, so keep track. Plus, what happens when a potential employer asks you about some things you’ve got on your resume that you claim to have an extensive knowledge of, but have not done for quite some time? With a log, you’ll have solid evidence of what you have. It’ll be easier to prepare for this moment, and you may be so bold as to make it part of your portfolio. 

While there is no correct way to keep a log, the easiest thing that I can say to do is write whenever you do something, and make sure you include the date. By this, I mean anytime you’re working on something for your internship or something that you had a hand in in your student organization. Even if you don’t do much or don’t do anything, you should still write. You should never leave a day blank. Rather, you should come prepared to learn and look forward to keep track of the things that you’ve done so you can gladly show potential employers.